My Story
by thatgirlhotaru
Summary: I, Hotaru Ryuu Uchiha, formally of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, tell my story of how I became the person I am today. (It's interesting, I promise)
1. Death of the Dragons

Well let's start with my story

* * *

My name is Hotaru Ryuu Uchiha, daughter of the infamous Madara Uchiha. Not only am I a feared Uchiha, I'm a dragon. Now I know you're probably thinking, "Wait, what the hell is this chick talking about...there are no dragons in Naruto." But that's the great thing about imagination. But since none of you guys can see what my imagination is saying, I'll have to write it out for you.

To start, I should tell you that an island, about twelve miles off the coast of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, used to belong to the dragons. My mother, Tenshi Ryuu, was the queen of the dragon race. Everything was well in the kingdom, but the only things she now needed were a loyal, devoted husband to rule peacefully as King of the Dragons, and an heir to the throne. However, my mother was a very picky woman; it seemed that every man on the island was not suitable for her.

Luckily enough, a man named Madara Uchiha had sailed out to the unknown island seeking an unlimited space to train with his new eye technique, the Sharingan. Unbeknownst to him, the whole island was inhabited with hundreds of dragons, happily secluded on their island in the warmth. When he arrived, the locals, terrified of being discovered on the mainland, escorted him directly to my mother, the queen.

The moment Madara stepped through the enormous palace doors, my mother could sense that this was the man that she'd been looking for. She knew that it would be a huge disappointment to her parents, a dragon marrying a human...what nonsense. But she didn't care.

When he was presented to her, my mother told the escorts to remove his shackles immediately. Surprised, Madara thanked my mother and began to question her about the island and its natives.

"You are a presumptuous man," she said, straightening up in her chair. "You come to this island, and before you even introduce yourself, you question this island and my authority. Please, if you'd be so kind, introduce yourself."

He bowed, apologized, and formally introduced himself. When he stood back up, he began his interrogation once more.

"Madara Uchiha," my mother said, standing up and walking down the steps in order to look him in the eyes. "You will join me this evening for dinner in the dining hall. Guards, escort him to one of the bedrooms in the far hall. After you get yourself cleaned up, we'll talk." Madara, being the arrogant and defiant man he is, refused to take orders from others, even the queen of a foreign land. However, he began formulating a plan in which he would persuade my mother to give him all that he came for.

So, long story short, they had dinner and my mother gave Madara the option of becoming king of this land. Going along with his plan perfectly, Madara accepted, they got married, and had me.

Fast forward a few months, I'm born. Now, dragons grow a little bit differently than humans, but half-dragons like myself grow especially oddly. Normally, one year to a dragon equates to five-or-so "human years," but with me, I grew slowly at first, then began to grow closer to the amount of time a human would.

Dragons live until roughly four hundred-fifty to five hundred years old, easily. But, the thing is, when the dragon hits twenty years of age (to humans), they stop growing, which is why dragons are known to hold eternal beauty.

Anyway, I was around a year old to the dragons (five-and-a-half to humans), when things fell into utter chaos and Madara's plan began to fall into place. In his spare time, he had been practicing with his brothers eyes, which he had transplanted just before he came across the island. The new technique that he'd formed was a form of a teleportation jutsu, which was powerful enough to transport a huge mass to another dimension.

As I'm sure you can guess, he ended up lying to my mother, betraying the dragon population, and destroying our only chances of survival by consuming the whole island into his Sharingan and teleporting them to the next dimension over.

But here's the catch: he saved me. He couldn't bring himself to let go of me. He ended up bringing me back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves and giving me to a random family in the Uchiha clan. There was no way that a man of his expertise could be tied down to a child at this point in his life.

Now you're probably wondering how I know all of this. Well, you see, a dragon never forgets. We dragons have the keenest memories that will never fade over our almost five hundred years of life. So, I will never forget how my father, Madara Uchiha, single-handedly killed off an entire race.

Except me.


	2. First Day? Okay

I guess now I can slow down with my story from here on out. It gets interesting, you know.

* * *

The sun peeked though the crack of the open door and made its way to my left eye. I awoke, squinted, and sat up slowly. I got probably a total of two hours of sleep last night and I felt absolutely terrible. However, once I'm awake, I'm awake.

I shuffled around in my sheets for a few more minutes until I felt awake enough to get dressed and get breakfast. Eventually, I pulled myself out of the sheets and got myself ready for the day. As I headed for the door, I looked over at the calendar hanging on my wall. I had tomorrow circled and noticed that it was my first day at the Academy.

I smiled and walked around the residence to the kitchen, where Mother Mikoto was already making okayu, tamagoyaki, and miso soup. I inhaled the various smells and wished that I could eat them, but a dragon's diet consists of solely human organs, nuts, berries, and plants of different sorts. I've trained myself to not rely on humans for survival, only because "cannibalism" frowned on in the village (it makes no sense to me because I'm not a human, so how could it be considered cannibalism?).

"Good morning, Hotaru," Mother Mikoto beemed. "How did you sleep last night?"

I rubbed my eye and walked over to her to see what she made me for my strict diet. "I didn't sleep much. I was out training last night and didn't get home until early this morning."

She set her wooden spoon down noisily on the counter and turned to face me and the bags under my eyes. "Hotaru Ryuu Uchiha! What did I tell you two nights ago?" she scolded, bending down as best she could to look me in the eyes. I looked at the little bump in her tummy, wondering if she was squishing the baby while in this position.

"Hotaru, pay attention to me, not baby Itachi."

I looked back up at her and smiled. "I'm getting really strong, you know? I learned a new jutsu last night all by myself."

With this, she lightened up a bit. "You know, you may be almost fifty years old, but you still look like you're only nine-and-a-half! You need as much sleep as you can get since you're a growing little girl."

"Alright, alright!" I giggled, "I'll only train 'till ten tonight!"

"I don't think so, young lady! Your first day at the Academy is tomorrow and they're not going to let a cranky new ninja step a foot into that place!" She smiled and gave me an awkward hug that pressed me right up against baby Itachi.

"Mother Mikoto, the miso is burning."

"Ah, thank you, sweetheart!" I helped her get up as she quickly paced back over to the stove. I heard Father Fugaku's door slide shut on the other side of the residence and was NOT in the mood for letting him know how late I was out last night.

I grabbed the dried fruits and nuts off of the counter that Mother Mikoto made for me and quickly darted out of the kitchen and ran towards the gate that opened into the village. I swallowed the handful of food and began my daily rounds of the village.

The Yamanaka flower shop looked good; Ichiruku's ramen shop seemed to be doing well; the hospital didn't have much business, which was good; the Academy, however, was bustling. Everyone was preparing to welcome the newbies tomorrow. I casually sauntered over to the front door, pretending like I was welcomed there.

I listened to the many jumbled thoughts of the chunin and jonin with papers in their hands, wondering why this was so confusing. Oh? I did I forget to mention that I can hear people's thoughts? Oh, silly me. Yep, I never knew how or why I obtained this amazing and annoying "power," but it has its ups and downs.

Anyway, I darted under and around the taller people as they ignored or glared at me. None of the older people in the village liked me because they knew that I was a dragon, and on top of that, the daughter of Madara Uchiha. As I maneuvered through legs and dodged purposely made kicks to my face, I read a few names on the papers that the people were holding.

"HATAKE, KAKASHI; GUY, MIGHT; UCHIHA, OBITO..."

I gasped. Obitio was going to be in my class! He lived a few places down from me in the Uchiha sub-village and he was just the most adorable thing that I've ever set my eyes on! He was so insensitive and sweet and kind and...ah, well you get the point. I've liked him ever since he was born (creepy, I know, I'm not afraid to admit it).

A few years ago, before he was killed, Tobirama Sensei told me that I had to wait until I was a whole number (preferably ten) in human years before I could join the Academy, so I never knew what graduating class I was going to be in. Even though I'm nine-and-a-half in human years, Sarutobi Sensei told me that this was the year that he would let me join the Academy because he was impressed with how far I've come in the passed ten years.

I was so excited to see that Obito was going to be in my class, that I completely neglected the rest of the village that needed checking up on and headed back to my little training area in the back of the Uchiha sub-village. I had to be at the top of my game if I wanted to try to get him to notice me tomorrow.

Hours had passed and before I knew it, it was dark out and I had spent the whole day training. I knew that Mother and Father would be upset if I didn't get back soon. I mean, I was tired as hell after two days of vigorous training so, I made my way back to my residence and tried to get the best night's sleep.

* * *

Once again, the sun shined in my eye and woke me up. However, this time I bolted up and got ready as fast as I could. When I got into the kitchen, Mother and Father were both already in there, waiting for me.

"Are you ready for your big day today, Hotaru?" Father Fugaku asked, opening his arms indicating the need for an embrace. I ran over to him and hugged him like humans normally do to show affection.

"Yes sir, I'm as ready as I'll ever be!" I grabbed the leaves and nuts on the counter that Mother Mikoto put together for me and gulped them down. I then darted out the door again, vaguely catching Mother and Father wishing me luck today. I was so excited!

I was one of the first that had arrived, naturally. I made my way into the classroom and saw five other kids already here. They all glared at me as I walked in. I listened to the thoughts in their heads:

"There's that girl that my parents told me to stay away from."

"That's the dragon girl - I hope she doesn't eat me on the first day."

"She's the one with the funny accent. Nobody likes a girl with a weird voice."

"Ewh, she's the REALLY old girl!"

I didn't expect this. I didn't think that the kids' parents would tell their kids to stay away from me or that I was a dragon that eats human hearts, or that I have an accent that is slightly different than theirs, or that I was...OLD. Gah, nobody likes me! I didn't think about that!

I ended up climbing up the stairs to the second to top row and walked to the end of the row, putting me in a corner near the window. I put my head down on the desk and heard the continuous comments and remarks about how different I am from them.

When all of the students arrived, one of the chunin came in with a clipboard and pen; he looked irritated. But who wouldn't be if they had to deal with all of these loud and obnoxious kids?

"Settle down, you guys or I won't start orientation!" he yelled over the many voices in the room.

The room began to quiet and he then began his lecture. I tuned him out for a little while and starred out the window. The harsh comments continued to jab at my emotions, but I held my head up.

My gaze broke when I heard footsteps hurriedly running down the hall. Who...Obito! Obito's not in here! And then, like I'd planned it, he came busting into the room.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Sensei! I had to help this old lady, you see, and-"

"Just take your seat, young man," the chunin growled through his teeth.

Fortunately for me, the only open seat was next to me, because who would want to sit next to an old dragon girl with a funny accent?

Obito made his way up the steps and to the seat next to me. I nonchalantly glanced over at him as aloof as a sponge.

He hung his head and tried to focus on the chunin in the front of the classroom, not even sparing a single cell of interest for me. I listened to his thoughts, but not a single one pertained to me.

Well, that put a damper on my mood. And as if I wasn't already bummed enough. I decided to tune out everyone and stare out the window again.

"...and Hotaru Ryuu Uchiha"

What? Who just...? Did someone say my name?

"Hotaru," the chunin repeated. "Did you hear me?"

"I beg your pardon, sir, but no, I did not catch that," I responded, sitting up and feeling every set of eyes on me.

"I said: TEAM 7 is going to be comprised of Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and Hotaru Ryuu Uchiha."

I matched the faces to whom I knew those people to be...HOLY HELL, did he just say Obito Uchiha? Oh my God, what do I do...I gotta...I gotta keep calm. Keep calm, oh wow, yikes, okay.

I casually threw a glance over to Obito to make sure that he noticed me acknowledging his presence.

"Oh, okay. Thank you, sir," I responded to the chunin.

"Your captain will be Minato Namikaze. You four are the first squad in Hidden Leaf history to ever be on a squad that has five men. Good luck to you, and you may exit the room to greet your new captain."

And that was how my journey as a genin began. Team seven: Kakashi, Rin, Obito, Hotaru, Minato. Well, here we go.


	3. Befriending the One Who I Envy Most

The long, drawn-out years that I'm supposed to grow as a dragon are slowly beginning to shorten into the standard human years. I'm ten now to the humans, and I'm actually enjoying my new team of five. Kakashi is basically the ring leader, Rin is the standard kunoichi and medical ninja of the team, Obito is the goofball who is always late because of his need to help people, and I'm just...me. I guess Minato Sensei and I round out the edges to our jagged team.

I don't know how to describe myself, really. My physical appearance hasn't changed at all since I was about three in human years: I've always had pale skin that seems to awkwardly gleam in the sunlight (maybe it's because I have rock-hard skin like the rest of the dragons). My silver hair never seems to grow longer than the back of my calves, which is good because I'd be tripping over it if it were any longer, and even if I cut it, it grows back to its starting length overnight. My eyes are a bright blue, almost like the sky, but not quite as gray, with slits for pupils instead of the standard circle. This always irritated me because I have terrible peripherals in bright light, but amazing vision in the dark.

There is one other thing that makes me oddly unique (and I absolutely hate it): because of my paternal father, an Uchiha, my dragon characteristics give way to my Uchiha side when I'm in physical contact with another Uchiha, which basically turns my hair and eyes jet-black and my fire-style jutsu becomes more dominant. So, when Minato Sensei decides to pair me up with Obito in a close-combat training exercise, I look strangely like my father. Yikes, I'm one ugly little muffin, aren't I? Well, we can't all be as adorable as Obito.

On the other hand, the way I fight makes up for the way I look. Well, you know how if a ninja possesses two different jutsu styles, they can form a new fighting style called a Kekkei Genkai. The rare type of Kekkei Genkai, in which the user can control three different elemental fighting styles and combine them to make a new jutsu style, is called the Kekkei Touta. The only ones known to possess this rare bloodline trait is the current Tsuchikage, Mu, and his subordinate, Onoki.

You see, dragons typically possess the ability to control two different types of elements, and it's rather common to see someone controlling three. My mother was a particularly skilled kunoichi and had the bloodline containing the power to control water, earth, and wind passed down to her. I inherited her traits, yes, but for some odd reason, I gained my father's fire and lightning release as well, making me the most powerful being in the ninja world.

However, a vast difference that separates the dragons from the humans is the fact that not only do we possess chakra in our bodies, we possess another energy called Majic. In short, Majic strengthens our flow of chakra and lets us release chakra without forming hand signs. The one downside to using strictly Majic instead of chakra is that the jutsu you're trying to preform will take longer to release than a typical chakra release. That's why I'll use both during battle, to extend my recovery time and shorten my release time.

Well, you now see how I do not wish for anyone to learn about this, for if someone were to find out, I would be imprisoned for the remainder of my life and/or starved until I die (starving a dragon is the only way to kill one, since nobody has come up with a metal strong enough to penetrate our hard skin). And you also know that with the ability to control all of the elements, I can learn and perfect every jutsu known to man (and I've successfully mastered about three fourths of the ones I've found in books). Tobirama Sensei was the only one who ever knew my secret, and I intend on keeping it that way. 

* * *

"Damn you, Kakashi!" Obito yelled, pointing at Kakashi. "Why are you always parading around like you're better than everyone else? You're no better than me, you idiot!"

I watched Kakashi, Rin, and Minato Sensei turn to face him. I honestly felt bad for Obito. He longed for Rin to notice him, when all she could see was Kakashi. I sighed and looked over to him as well.

"What are you going on about now, Obito?" Kakashi asked with a sharp edge in his voice.

Obito's face began to flush and I listened to the thoughts in his head:

"Goddamn you, Kakashi. If it weren't for you, Rin would be mine and I would look like the hero. But NO, you have to act like such a big shot!"

I sighed again and began to walk ahead. When I passed Kakashi, he turned and followed me, completely ignoring the rest of what Obito had to say.

I had to agree with Obito on this one. Kakashi only put up a strong, fearless facade in order to impress me. Ever since we were put on the same team, all I could hear his mind saying was:

"I'll get Hotaru to fall in love with me...she seems to only go for the cool guys, so I'll act like nothing bothers me."

Wrong! You're wrong. So wrong, Kakashi. I LIVE for the goofballs; for the boys full of spunk and energy; for the boys that are not afraid to show emotion...I need that emotion to fuel my liveliness...

"Come on, Obito," Minato Sensei beckoned. "We can't be getting all fussy over something trivial like this."

Obito removed his goggles and wiped his eyes. I stopped and turned around to watch him. He always claimed that something got in his eyes, but it's impossible when he's wearing goggles to get something in his eyes. I watched him clench his fists, then inhaled deeply. I slowly began to walk over to him.

When I stood no less than a foot away, I put my hands on his shoulders; he stopped crying and looked up at my emotionless face. By this time, my hair had faded to black and my eyes looked like small pieces of obsidian.

"Come now, Obito. You know you're better than Kakashi, so why do you convince yourself that you're not?" With this, I not only caught Obito's attention, but everyone else's as well. "You've got to stop beating yourelf up like this. You can do so much better than him, so don't cry over it and strive to be better."

I removed my hand from his shoulder, but continued to stare into his eyes; he returned my gaze. I stepped closer and opened my arms. I wanted to just absorb all of his hatred away from him, but I knew that nothing could take away his jealousy of Kakashi. By now, I was firmly embracing him, wondering if any of his jealousy was being transferred to me, but only five seconds after I put my arms around him did I let go. I quickly wheeled back around and brushed past Kakashi to the front of the group without a second glance.

As the silver color of my hair returned and my eyes reverted back to their original state, I felt four sets of eyes on my back as Obito and Kakashi remained where they stood. Minato Sensei and Rin slowly shuffled to catch up with me, trying not to leave the two behind. This was the first time that I had ever expressed my feelings towards Obito. 

* * *

The sun was fading behind the mountains in the distance. We were on the edge of the Fire Country and about to approach the Village Hidden in the Grass. I was still leading the way, so I decided to steer the team deeper in the the forest in order to set up camp for the night. Minato Sensei seemed to comply, and urged the others to follow me. I scouted out a clearing and listened for anything out of the ordinary. When the area seemed safe, I set my backpack on the ground and waited for the others to catch up.

"We'll set up camp here for the night," I said when the others began stepping over the brush into the clearing. "There's no use in crossing the border until morning."

After we all set our belongings down, Minato and Kakashi agreed to set up the tents while Obito collected twigs, branches, and leaves for the fire. I told Rin that she was to come help me collect food for the four of them. I heard a stream nearby, so I led us down there first.

When we got to the stream, I immediately thrust my hand into the cold water to obtain the first part of the meal. It was a small trout, but good enough for someone with a small appetite like Rin. After I got the first catch of the evening, Rin followed my lead and caught another trout, a little bit smaller than the one that I got.

"Hey, Hotaru," Rin said after a little while.

I looked up at her and responded with a stare.

"What you said to Obito earlier today...it was really nice of you." She broke our gaze and looked at the other fish swimming around in the creek.

I also turned my attention back to the fish and neglected to offer a response.

"You know," she mumbled while looking back up at me,"I think it's so funny how hard he tries to impress me, you know? I mean, it's kind of cute, but it gets on my nerves." She let out a nervous giggle. We'd never talked about boys with each other before.

I looked up at her. Her thoughts didn't match what she was verbally saying; she wasn't actually thinking that it was "funny" or "cute" that Obito liked her so much, she thought that it was annoying and weird how much he tried and how she wished that Kakashi would be this clingy with her.

"Don't you think it's odd, Hotaru?"

"Uhm, yes. It's very peculiar," I responded halfheartedly. I ended up forming hand signs to make my lightning blade jutsu and striking another two fish. They were both rather large bream that could suffice for three people. When I hit them with my lightning, they cooked half-way through.

"I mean, I think it'd be cuter if Kakashi was like Obito. If Kakashi bought me flowers and told me I'm pretty and stared at me sometimes and-"

"Yes, Rin. Yes," I interrupted. She stopped fiddling with her hair. "Yes, that would be absolutely lovely, wouldn't it? But, you know, you could be a little less shallow and accept the man that loves you instead."

Oh, ouch, I didn't mean for that to sound so cold...oh well, she has to learn that Kakashi will never love her while she was Obito's only true love. I stood up with the three fish that I had caught and walked away. I felt her confused and hurt face still sitting in the same spot as I made my way to look for other things to eat. Eventually, I heard her saunter back to the camp despairingly.

In total, I had collected a handful of berries, a few edible leaves, small nuts that grew on bushes lining a path, and mushrooms that looked good enough to eat. I then made my way back to the camp to find everyone sitting around a fire only big enough for four people.

When I entered the clearing, everyone but Rin looked up at me. I studied each of their faces and everyone but Rin's were excited to see that food had arrived. When I crept closer to the fire, Rin finally gave me a sideways glance. As she was about to get up, I dropped the bag containing the food that I had gathered and walked over to one of the tents.

"Wait, what's up with her?" Obito asked jokingly.

"Rin, was she upset when you two were gathering food?" Minato Sensei asked.

She looked up at the circle of people and began to tear up. I could hear her sobbing as she ran passed the tent I was laying in. Ugh, no one likes a crybaby. When I heard Obito calling for her to wait, I turned over and pretended like everyone was eating their food calmly. No one except Obito, I guess.

Just then, Obito flung open the flap to my tent and yelled, "What did you do to her to make her cry like that?"

My ear twitched at the sound of his voice.

"Hotaru! What the hell did you do?" Kakashi and Minato had apparently followed Obito over to my tent as well.

I sat up and faced my comrades. "I did nothing but tell her that she was shallow and should be thankful for what she has in front of her."

Minato Sensei's face lightened a bit as he let out a sigh. "Is that all?"

Obito spun around and started yelling at Minato Sensei. I figured he'd run out after Rin, but I knew Minato would tell him to stay here while he went out to follow her; I was right.

So Kakashi and Obito sat down in the tent on either side of me. Obito looked furious whereas Kakashi looked annoyed.

"Why would you tell someone as innocent as Rin something liked that?" Obito asked coarsely, crossing his arms.

"Just let it go, Obito," Kakashi mumbled.

I let them bicker for a minute or so, then interjected with a, "Just shut up, the both of you."

The two of them then stayed silent verbally, while their minds would not shut up.I fell back on the ground and tried my best to block out the conversations that they were having. My silver hair spilled all over me and tangled itself in the twigs and grass beneath me. I felt bad for it. I never treated my hair nicely, even if it barely showed how damaged it was because of how strong and sharp it was. Sometimes you could see the ends splitting in two, and other times, it was strong enough to resist force.

I then began relating my hair to Rin. And Obito. And Kakashi...And me. My hair is so strong; it feels like little blades if you run your fingers through it. Yet, despite its strength, I treat it so poorly. No matter how strong the person, if you treat them poorly, they will feel the result of the roughness. Sometimes they can hide it, and other times they break.

I sat up straight and looked at the two in front of me. Kakashi loves me. I love Obito. Obito loves Rin. Rin loves Kakashi. A circle. We make a circle that can never be fully completed; none of us can control how we feel towards each other.

I shot up and ran out to look for Rin. I ended up flying past Minato Sensei and told him not to worry about looking for her. I heard her light footsteps not too far ahead of me and I quickly caught up to her.

"Rin! Rin, stop! Stop running away from me!" I called out at her as she sped up. "I came to apologize! I came to..." She wasn't listening. I didn't want to waste my breath on her if she wasn't going to acknowledge me. Ugh, I didn't want to scare her, but it seemed that was going to be the only way to get her to stop and listen.

I blinked and waited for my Sharingan to activate, then mixed my chakra with my Majic and teleported to ten feet in front of her. Her teary eyes glanced over her shoulder when she could no longer hear me following her to make sure that I had stopped and given up. When she faced forward again, she screamed at the sight of me standing in front of her and collapsed as quickly as I'd teleported.

"Shit, Rin, why'd you have to blackout on me like that?" I looked down at her and cursed myself for giving her no warning before I scared her half to death. I looked up at the sky. The night sky was shrouded by the tops of the trees; I hated it when my vision was obscured by things that needn't be there.

Why couldn't I have just kept my mouth shut? I could have avoided so much conflict...oh, that's right. I don't lie, but I so desperately wish I could. It would make everything so much easier. Unfortunately, I haven't told a single lie in my life. If I could have lied, I would have said something a bit more comforting like, "Yes, you're right, Rin. I wish Kakashi paid attention to you and I wish that you could shoot down Obito without a care in the world as long as you could get to be with Kakashi." But I would be lying. Not to her, but to myself. That's not what I wish for - that's what YOU wish for.

The confusing thoughts just clouded my mind and agitated my sense of reason, so I shook them off and stooped down to pick her up, then carried her a few feet before teleporting back to the camp.

When I appeared with Rin slung like a baby over my arms, naturally, the others freaked out (Obito almost lost his head, I'm sure).

"Please, don't fret. She's only asleep," I said to them to appease their uneasy thoughts. "When I went to chase her, I ended up scaring her and she passed out; she's fine."

They seemed to relax a bit at the sound of this, and escorted us into the far tent. I set Rin down and propped her head up on a pillow. Her thoughts returned to her mind and shortly after, her eyelashes began to flutter. I told Obito, Kakashi, and Minato Sensei to give us some privacy.

"Hey, Rin," I whispered.

"Ah! Get away from me!" She began flailing her arms and legs at me futilely.

"Calm down!"

"Away! Go! Leave me alone!" Her efforts came with no avail. I was not going to leave until I told her that I was sorry for the feelings of hers that I had hurt.

"Rin!" I grabbed her arms and legs and pinned her down. "Rin, I would like to formally apologize for damaging your feelings and calling you shallow; it was not my place to say."

She looked up at me as I hovered over her: Score, got her to listen. Her thoughts calmed down and she stopped struggling. Then, she started to giggle.

"What? Why are you laughing? There is absolutely no practical reason for you to be laughing!" I let go of her limbs and sat up right. She continued to laugh until she let out a nasally snort. "Stop that, Rin!"

"I'm sorry too," she eventually got out. "I just overreacted and I think it's funny how serious we both got! I thought you were actually going to attack me!"

I let the corner of my mouth turn upward. I can't believe how lighthearted this girl is. She acted so devastated that I thought she was running off to her death! My half-smile became fuller and I gently pushed her back down on the ground, chuckling a bit.

For a few minutes, we sat there and play-fought until she finally said with a serious tone, "Can you talk to me in my head? I don't want the guys to hear what I have to say."

Ah, yes I keep forgetting to mention these important details. Since I have the ability to hear others thoughts, I can communicate with those thoughts using the sound waves in my head. Simple enough to overlook, right?

"Sure," I said telepathically and giggling aloud. "I love secrets."

She sat up straight as well and told me with her mind, "I know that you like Obito." She paused. "Now, don't get upset...it's not obvious to anyone...I don't think, but I picked up on it when you were comforting him this morning when he was discouraged and how defensive you got when I said something against him."

I shifted awkwardly.

"And I also know how much Kakashi likes you...which is weird because I like Kakashi and...you know."

"Yes, I am well aware," I silently responded. "I've come to the conclusion that we're all trapped in this incomplete circuit: We all like the other who does not return a mutual feeling."

She smiled. And, odd enough, so did I. It seemed as though this is where she proposed to drop the conversation, and I was completely content with that. We've shared each other's secrets and have accepted one another as comrades as well as friends. But there was nothing that we could do to get the men we wanted, and nothing seemed to change that deafening, underlying fact.


End file.
